Monthly Archives: September 2010

In both July and September, I helped friends move their earthly belongings, huffing and puffing large pieces of furniture from old homes to new ones. As I was assisting the transfer of an antique two-thousand pound television set from a … Continue reading →

Nighthawks, the 1942 canvas by Edward Hopper portraying isolated customers in a downtown diner late at night, is an emblematic work, one of the most recognizable painting in American art. I was fortunate to see it when the Art Institute … Continue reading →

I have few friends, mostly by choice. Over the last five or six years I’ve trimmed away some people, nice people, I might add, but ones who either demanded too much, were opportunistic, or had little to offer. A good … Continue reading →

It’s 1:15 in the afternoon and I’m stuck in traffic. There’s nothing unusual about this; we’re in Northern Virginia, a few miles south of Washington DC, and the area is undergoing a massive upheaval as construction for an extended subway … Continue reading →

So here I sit, a mere 12 pages away from finishing a major rewrite on a book I wrote many years ago and put away. At the time, I was frustrated by my agent’s demands that I change too many … Continue reading →

Any moment now the Christmas carols will start, because, as we know, the Holiday shopping season begins sometimes in mid September. Can’t get your wallets out too early, and by all accounts, it’s going to be a tough year so … Continue reading →

When I told him he was manhandling my father’s remains, he turned sheet-white, handed the box to his superior officer who in turn gave it back to me. I said these were the ashes of a Free French and the man saluted.